By Isabel Pancake
In June 2022, the State Criminal Police Office initiated proceedings against the Berlin Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV) on suspicion of breach of trust in connection with corona test centers. In the same month, an employee of the fee department left the KV – not without reason?
Review: For a long time, test center operators simply had to send the number of tests purchased and carried out to the KV, which then settled the bill. Control: none! Some operators took advantage of this: They billed for significantly more tests than they had actually carried out – a case for the public prosecutor. But now she is also investigating against the KV itself…
Accelerated KV test procedures for money?
Tommy (28) has three test centers in Wilmersdorf and Wedding. He claims to have noticed the KV’s dirty deals directly, says: “The employee in the fee department was corrupt. He took money from the guys from Neukölln. In this way, they received their payouts or even the certification for their test center faster.”
The scam: the KV employee negotiated the deals with the operators over the phone. Demanded ten percent of the payouts – amounts in the three or four digit range! If the operators agreed, their billing ended up at the top of the endless pile of applications. He then had the funds picked up by a straw man, but did not appear himself.
The Berlin Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians is currently being investigated in connection with corona test centers Photo: Siegfried Purschke
“If he didn’t get any money, he just hit stop – then there were no payouts,” Tommy continues. The honorary department employee also wanted to negotiate with Tommy, but he refused.
Prosecutor: “Examination is ongoing”
Half a year after the investigations against the KV began, the public prosecutor’s office has not made much progress. The procedure against board members of the KV had been initiated ex officio.
Sebastian Büchner, spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office: “Information is currently being obtained from various agencies, which should be included in the assessment of whether the LKA’s assessment that there is an initial suspicion is shared.”
KV claimed to know nothing about the investigation and rejected the allegations.